End of an era, as BlackMatch bow out of Monsoon Cup

Greetings from BlackMatch in Malaysia,

Sailing in our last Regatta ever as a team, it was the end of an era today for the BlackMatch Racing crew and it couldn’t have come in a more heartbreaking fashion. After showing very mixed form throughout the week our hopes of qualifying for the quarterfinals all came down to our last race against the current World Tour leader Mathieu Richard and despite having a great early on advantage, we squandered our lead to bow out of the 2010 World Title Race.

The start really couldn’t have gone better for us as we wriggled free of the Frenchman’s starboard advantage and hoisted our spinnaker in a bold move during the pre-start. Using the extra speed from hoisting our kite we managed to gain an overlap in the dying seconds of the pre-start to not only force Mathieu over the line, but to also inflict a penalty on him. Usually ‘game over’ it was just not meant to be for us and the crafty French sailor got a great left hand wind shift when we failed to capitalize on our first cross advantage. Although we kept it very close throughout the first half of the race, Mathieu and his team sailed away from us up the last beat as the fickle wind left us stalled at bottom mark. From then on they extended to complete their outstanding penalty turn on the finish line and seal their quarterfinal berth.

Minoprio executes a brilliant start, forcing Richard to be early over the line with a penalty. However, the French skipper will later overtake Minoprio, build a comfortable lead and win the race after offloading his penalty!!

Earlier on in the day we managed to defeat Ben Ainslie in a tight affair, but there were too many cases this week of small mistakes and failing to capitalize on advantages, this ultimately cost us our chance of defending our World Title.

Despite an extremely disappointing end to not only this year, but also our time sailing together as Team BlackMatch, we now have time to reflect and look at what we have achieved over the past 3 years, also to plan what the future holds for each of us. For BlackMatch Skipper Adam Minoprio he is set to join Emirates Team New Zealand in the Volvo Ocean Race, on to a new and exciting venture. For the rest of the boys the future is a little less certain as to what will be the next challenge, but for the 5 Kiwi boys who embarked on a goal back in 2008 and were crowned 2009 World Match Racing Champions, it has been a great journey.

Adam, Dan, Tom, Dave and Nick would all like to say a massive thank you to our sponsors FedEx Express and Events Clothing/Line 7. Without the help and support over the years especially from David Ross and Fedex, none of this would have been remotely possible. We would also like to thank our friends and family back home in New Zealand, also to Emirates Team New Zealand and our yacht club the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, thank you.

BlackMatch is Adam Minoprio, Dan McLean Tom Powrie, Nick Blackman and David Swete

Adam Minoprio and BlackMatch Racing clinch Danish Open

Hello all from BlackMatch,

Today we managed to get the single win needed against Francesco Bruni to take out the semi final 3 nil, before going on to win a gruelling Final against a rampant Torvar Mirsky 3-2, to become the 2010 Danish Open Champions. Torvar and his Western Australian team had earlier sailed an amazing semi final to win 3 races in a row and take out a miraculous comeback victory over Mathieu Richard, so we knew it would be a tough final.

At two wins apiece the final race was a cliffhanger and after trailing for most of the finale, we made our move half way up the second beat to cross mere metres in front of Mirsky and sail away from then on to take the victory.

After four terrible regatta's in the DK37's we thought that we were doing something very very wrong, so it was great to break the curse and nail a win here in Bornholm. Not only was it great to get our 5th World Match Racing Tour win but it also has helped us out immensely on the overall 2010 World Tour standings. We now trail 2010's 'bolter' Mathieu Richard by 17 points, while a good result in our next regatta in Bermuda will put us right back on his tail going into the final event in Malaysia. Our win here has also helped us to maintain our ISAF World Number 1 Ranking.

We would again like to say a special thank you to our sponsors FedEx Express and Events Clothing/Line 7. Owen Rutter from Events Clothing has supplied us with new sailing gear this season, keeping the boys looking very sharp. The ongoing support of our sponsors is helping make this opportunity possible for the BlackMatch boys and we would also like to thank Emirates Team New Zealand and Steinlager Pure.

BlackMatch Racing this week is Adam Minoprio, Dan McLean, Tom Powrie, David Swete, Nick Blackman and local boy Jonas Frank Hviid-Nielsen.

It was neck and neck between the two young guns but finally Minoprio prevailed and won the Danish Open. Bornholm, 12 September 2010. Photo copyright Loris von Siebenthal / WMRT

All To Play For At The St. Moritz Match Race

[Source: World MAtch Racing Tour] The opening day of racing at the St. Moritz Match Race dawned bright but cold, with the surface of the lake covered in a thin layer of picturesque mist. However, the tranquil setting belied the intensity of racing that was to come most notably between the British and French teams.

The first start saw double ISAF Match Racing World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar pitched against local sailor Jérôme Clerc (SUI) Team CER Genève, who gained a wildcard invitation to the event. The young Swiss sailor proved from the outset that he has the talent to mix with sailing's biggest stars, taking the lead just after the start and holding it until tantalisingly close to the finish.

Clerc was next up against Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN. Approaching the first windward mark, Clerc held a small advantage slightly to windward of the British boat, but Ainslie pulled just far enough forward to slip above the Swiss skipper in a deft manoeuvre that cleared his way to round the mark first.
Clerc commented: "It was a lot of fun today - we're not really favourites, but we are really happy to be in contact with them and playing with them."

Adam Minoprio leads St Moritz Match Race 2010 after day one. St Moritz, 1 September 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / WMRT

Ainslie's fight with Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team saw the event's first piece of red-hot anger, including a collision, much shouting between the two teams, and a rapid succession of penalties even before the start gun was fired. With a red flag penalty - to be taken immediately - Iehl's race was effectively over at the start.

The Brits went on to dominate the first part of the day's racing, with both teams winning all their races, including Ainslie's match against current World Match Racing Tour leader Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team. "It's the start we wanted, even though we're a bit rusty having missed the last two events. The conditions were very tricky with 20-25 and even 30, degree windshifts and it was important to connect the gusts, especially downwind."

So what would happen when Ainslie and Williams went head-to-head? After close sparring in the pre-start, Williams held Ainslie out to the wrong side of the committee boat, winning the start by a length and a half. At the windward mark Williams misjudged his tack and collided with Ainslie, but maintained a tenuous lead. At the beginning of the final leg he had extended this to three-lengths, but still had a penalty turn to take before finishing - it was impossible to predict the result, until a gust allowed Williams to extend his lead 150m from the finish line.

Ian Williams,Team GAC Pindar, beats Ben Ainslie, TEAMORIGIN in the round robin of the St Moritz Match Race 2010. St Moritz, 1 September 2010. Photo copyright Ian Roman / WMRT

The French teams came to the fore in the final races of the day. Ainslie and Bertrand Pacé (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team were evenly positioned at the start, with Pacé at the left-hand end of the line. With the stronger gusts on the left-hand side of the course he quickly pulled out a small lead. Pacé, reflected: "Then we just tried to sail with the best wind, choosing the right side of the course and staying in phase with the wind shifts - it's easy to stay ahead of the other guy if you do that in these conditions."

The last race, between Mathieu Richard and Ian Williams, was also the closest. With 15 seconds to go the French skipper looked much too early, yet he found enough wriggle room to make a perfect start, much to the surprise of the spectator crowds. He led throughout the race by the tightest of margins - at the finish just one metre separated the two boats.

Richard, said: "The match with Williams was the most challenging for us today - it was so close all the way. We're very pleased with our results and the way we sailed, although we know we can still make small improvements."

It was also a good day for defending champion St. Moritz Match Race Champion, Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, Björn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team, who top the rankings along with Williams at the end of day one, each of these skippers having won four races and lost one.

Results after Day 1 of the St. Moritz Match Race:
Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing:4-1
Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar: 4-1
Björn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team: 4-1
Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN: 3-2
Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team: 3-2
Bertrand Pace (FRA) Aleph Sailing Team: 3-2
Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team: 2-3
Damien Iehl (FRA) French Match Racing Team: 2-3
Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra: 2-3
Eric Monnin (SUI) Swiss Match Racing Team: 2-3
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team: 1-4
Jérôme Clerc (SUI) CER: 0-5

Adam Minoprio advances to quarterfinals at Match Race Germany

Greetings from BlackMatch,

Finishing the round robin today we ended with a scorecard of 8 wins and 3 losses, tied at the top of the leaderboard with Mathieu Richard and Ian Williams. A countback was needed to decide the top qualifying team who would proceed directly through to the semi final and it was Richard who came out on top, due to wins against both Williams and ourselves. This left us in second position and safely through to the shortened quarterfinal, also earning the right to choose who we were to race.

Todays victories came against Jesper Radich, Ian Williams and Torvar Mirsky, while we suffered a disappointing loss to our ‘bogie man’ Paolo Cian. Both our victories over Williams and Mirsky were convincing, while against Radich we had to come from behind. The Danish team held a slender lead at the first top mark however we made a nice move down the first run to roll over the top of them and gain a lead that we were able to defend well to the finish.

Given the choice of who we would race in the quarterfinal we chose Swede Magnus Holmberg and his Kiwi Team, made up of the Waka Racing boys. This was a tough decision especially as they won all 4 of their matches today in a great display of sailing, nevertheless we are confident we can break our curse of never winning a quarterfinal having chosen our opponent.

The other quarterfinal match ups are Torvar Mirsky verses Peter Gilmour and Ian Williams taking on Jesper Radich.

Black Match crew members during a spinnaker hoist on day 3 of Match Race Germany. Langenargen, 22 May 2010. Photo copyright Gareth Cooke/Subzero Images/WMRT

BlackMatch Racing set to Launch 2010 Campaign

Hello All from BlackMatch Racing,

It is now only a few days until the opening World Match Racing Tour Event of 2010 in Marseille, the first of 10 events this year that will see us trying to retain our World Match Racing Title. We are proud to release our first video of the year created by Hamish Hooper, updating the teams situation and our intentions for 2010. To view the video please click on the following link to BlackMatch's new YouTube page http://www.youtube.com/user/BlackMatchRacing1 .

2010 will see BlackMatch hit the water with the same same 5 guys, Adam Minoprio, Dan McLean, Tom Powrie, David Swete and Nick Blackman, all with the same goal of retaining the World Title. Having gained entry to all of the events for 2010, including the exciting new Vietnam Match Cup, it will be a tough ask but we are hoping to kick the year off by defending our Match Race France Title next week.

BlackMatch Racing have renewed their sponsorship with Fedex Express for 2010 and we again also have the support of Emirates Team New Zealand. Hamish Hooper and his company the Visual Collective www.thevc.co.nz have done an outstanding job putting together our promotional videos and website and together we are hoping to step up our media presence.

2010 is going to be another exciting year. With the World Match Racing Tour under new management and clearly on the 'up and up', all aspects of the game are stepping up another level, including competition on the water and media surrounding the tour, so please feel free to check out the new World Tour website www.wmrt.com or the BlackMatch website www.blackmatchracing.com

A preview of things to come?

Is this a preview of things to come in the 34th America's Cup? Adam Minoprio and the BlackMatch crew on BMW Oracle's B-boat? One can be assured that with the America's Cup match scheduled to take place 2-3 years from now it's never too early for the young world match racing champions to start moving in bigger boats.

Adam Minoprio and his BlackMatch crew sailing onboard BMW Oracle. Dubai, 22 February 2010. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Adam Minoprio: Catch us if you can...

They are young, very talented sailors but they also seem to have a grasp of the modern communication and marketing tools. We are talking about BlackMatch Racing, that under the leadership of Adam Minoprio have now reached the top spot in the ISAF Match Racing Rankings and the World Match Racing Tour.

With less than 2 weeks until the start of the Monsoon Cup, the final and decisive event of this year's Tour, the 4 kiwis have produced a nice video where they talk about the buildup to the event. Adam Minoprio, Nick Blackman, Tom Powrie and Dave Swete have a 12-point cushion over Torvar Mirsky and his Ozzie crew but with the Monsoon Cup counting twice towards the overall leaderboard, the 2009 Championship will undoubtedly be a close call.

These videos are cool but are they useful? We think they are and maybe professional sailors should also understand they are in part showmen...

Adam Minoprio holds on to top spot of ISAF World Match Race Rankings

[Source: ISAF] New Zealand's Adam Minoprio and French skipper Claire Leroy are again unmoved from the top spots in the latest release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings on 28 October.

The top three skippers in the Open World Rankings remain unchanged, with Adam Minoprio (NZL) holding onto the world #1 spot for the third consecutive Ranking release. Australia's Torvar Mirsky (AUS) stays at #2, ahead of Mathieu Richard (FRA) at #3. Reigning World Champion Ian Williams (GBR) returns to the world top five as he climbs two places to #4, with ISAF Nations Cup winner Damien Iehl (FRA) unmoved at #5.


Claire Leroy (FRA) continues her four-year unbroken run at the top of the Women's Rankings. Lucy Macgregor (GBR) maintains the world #2 spot, whilst 2009 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Champion Nicky Souter (AUS) leapfrogs fellow Australian Katie Pellew (nee-Spithill) into the world #3 spot. French skipper Anne-Claire Le Berre climbs two places up to a career-best Ranking of #5.

The next release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings will be on 9 December 2009.

BlackMatch to face Ben Ainslie’s Team Origin, in the 2009 Argo Group Gold Cup Final

Greetings again from BlackMatch in Bermuda,

It felt like a case of déjà vu Korea Match Cup today as Mathieu Richard came storming back to win 2 races and level up our quarterfinal match up, however we kept cool heads this time having learnt the hard way and managed to take the deciding race and progress through to the semi finals. The semi final was not such a close affair and we convincingly won three matches on the trot against Switzerland’s Eric Monin to seal our place in the 2009 Argo Group Gold Cup Final.

In the other semi final it was the battle of the Brits, three times Olympic Gold Medalist Ben Ainslie pitted against double World Match Racing Champion Ian Williams. In the end it was Ben who came out the victor, continuing to show the awesome form he has had throughout the week in taking the semi final 3-1.

Highlights from day 5 of the Bermuda Gold Cup. Bermuda, 10 October 2009. Video copyright World Match Racing Tour

Being such a one sided semi final, the highlight of the day was definitely the quarter final fight back from Richard. Having been handed 3 match points yesterday, we struggled to put the Frenchman away and although we had a great opportunity to do so following an awesome start in the second match of the day, they rolled us on the first downwind and defended their lead well to set up a nerve racking final match. After holding a slight advantage off the start line a fierce tacking duel ensued up the first beat where the French team did very well to keep it close. Nearing the top mark we were to leeward of Mathieu on port tack and tacked onto starboard, they held their course at us on port tack as they believed that we would not complete our tack and by the time they took evasive action there was a collision. The umpires ruled in our favour and they were handed a penalty which saw the match swing dramatically in our favour. From then on in we defended our lead and sailed on to seal our semi final match up with surprise package Monin.

So after 5 days of racing, 24 teams have been narrowed down to just two and in a repeat of last year’s semi final here in Bermuda, we will be taking on Britains Ben Ainslie. Ben has been showing formidable form this week but despite this we are sure we have the goods to defeat him as we managed to do last year.

As far as overall World Match Racing Tour standings are concerned it couldn’t have played out much better for us. Peter Gilmour’s early exit coupled by Mirsky and Richard’s failure not only guarantees us the lead on the Tour, but it will also mean we should have a reasonable lead going into the final event in Malaysia. With William’s yet again missing out on the final here it could spell the end for the Double World Champion’s hopes of a third crown, however things are still wide open and we will be pushing hard to get those extra few points tomorrow.

BlackMatch Racing promotional video

They are young and they are, very, successful so a little promotion is not bad at all. We are talking about BlackMatch Racing, the young kiwi team that currently holds the 2nd position in the World Match Racing Tour and whose helmsman, Adam Minoprio, currently sits at the top of the ISAF match racing ranking at the age of 24.

BlackMatch Racing are Adam Minoprio (helm), Daniel Mclean (main), David Swete (trim), Nick Blackman (bow) and Tom Powrie (trim).

BlackMatch look ahead after failure in Denmark

Hi all from BlackMatch,

Another very tough day of sailing and with the dubious task of winning all of our matches to qualify, a loss in our opening match against Mathieu Richard spelled the end for Blackmatch, as we bowed out of the 2009 Danish Open. After such a great fight back last week, the tough format with only the top 4 teams progressing simply did not allow for a slow start to the regatta and this did not help our cause. We also had a loss to fellow Kiwi Phil Robertson who had an excellent day and took a well deserved victory after winning the start and sailing a great race to extend away. In our other races we had wins against Sebastian Col and Torvar Mirsky but it was too little too late.

We are currently 1 nil up against Damien Iehl in a battle for the 7th and 8th positions and although minor placings it would be great to take out the French world number 6 in the first to 2 wins match up.

BlackMatch would like to congratulate the top four teams Peter Gilmour, Torvar Mirsky, Jes Gram Hansen and Matius Rahm and we look forward to seeing who will come out the victor. We are now looking forward to the Argo Group Gold Cup in Bermuda which is the penultamate event on the tour and a result here will put us in an excellent position for a shot at taking out the World Match Racing Tour.

A big thank you to our sponsor Fedex Express and also to the support received from Emirates Team New Zealand and our yacht club the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron.

Adam Minoprio, the world's number one match racer, bows out of the Danish Open. Aarhus, 12 September 2009. Photo copyright Per Heegaard

Danish Open starts tomorrow in Aarhus

[Source: World Match Racing tour] The Danish Open, the seventh event on the 2009 World Match Racing Tour, sets sail tomorrow off Aarhus, marking a symbolic return of match racing to Denmark’s second largest city. For it was here, on the Jutland peninsula’s east coast, some 3.5 hours from Copenhagen, where Denmark’s powerful match racing circuit has its roots.

“From the harbour of Marselisborg, match racing grew rapidly around Denmark, and fostered great talents like Jesper Radich, Sten Mohr, Jes Gram-Hansen and many others,” recalls Morten Lorenzen, CEO of the Royal Danish Yacht Club, hosts of the Danish Open.

As ever the 12 skippers, presently drawing up their battle lines, represent a strong mix headed by the young antipodean blades Torvar Mirsky from Australia and New Zealand’s Adam Minoprio. Last week Minoprio won the St Moritz Match Race in a final against Mirsky and is the present leader in the 2009 World Match Racing Tour standings. They will face Britain’s Ian Williams, the 2008-9 World Match Racing Tour champion, currently no.4 in the standings, and a powerful entry from France in no3 ranked Mathieu Richard, no6 ranked Damien Iehl and Sebastien Col, skipper of the K-Challenge America’s Cup team. From neighbouring Sweden comes Mattias Rahm, who following his time as strategist for Victory Challenge during the last America’s Cup, won Match Cup Sweden last year.

Lending some gravitas to proceedings will once again be Cup legend Peter Gilmour. “Denmark has a great heritage in match racing,” says Gilmour of the Danish Open. “Then there is the DS37 boat, which is a bit of a favourite of mine. I love sailing them. You have to sail them properly to get around the race course - any slips of performance or skill and they penalise you quite harshly.” Gilmour reckons he has won the Danish Open two or three times over his many previous participations, which have also included being beaten by Denmark’s most famous match racer, triple Soling Olympic medallist Jesper Bank, and on another occasion beating treble America’s Cup winning skipper, Russell Coutts. However this will be his first time racing in the Danish Open’s new home, Aarhus, something Gilmour reckons will favour the local skippers, initially at least.

For a strong cast of Danes is also competing including Peter Wibroe, a Tour regular, and special Wild Card Jonas Warrer, who is not. Warrer with Martin Kirketerp Ibsen, won the 49er Gold for Denmark at the Beijing Olympics, in unusual circumstances when they snapped the mast of their boat shortly before the start of the last race and hastily had to borrow a replacement boat belonging to another team.

“They will try their skills in the aggressive discipline of Match Racing,” says Morten Lorenzen. “Coming from Aarhus, and with in-depth knowledge of the waters off Marselisborg, Jonas and Martin are keen to show the Stars one or two tricks. They have practised Match Racing hard and intensely, and are focusing on one match at a time. For sure they know what it takes to win gold – and they will go for all or nothing, just like in Qingdao in 2008.”

The local line-up also features one of the original stars of the Danish match racing school: Jes Gram-Hansen. Gram-Hansen competed in the last America’s Cup with Mascalzone Latino and now spends much of his sailing time on the Farr 40 circuit. He competed in three Tour events in 2008, culminating in St Moritz.

For Gram-Hansen, the Danish Open venue represents a homecoming, for while he now lives in Spain, Aarhus is where he grew up and is also where he learned to match race. He says he is less certain of whether local knowledge will pay as it is has been some 10 years since he sailed there regularly. He has recently set up his own match race practice centre in a nearby marina in Aarhus with his long term sailing partner Rasmus Kostner, who is also racing with him at the Danish Open, along with a posse of ex-Cup sailors including towering Jann Neergaard and Martin Krite, both fresh from Ericsson Racing Team’s Nordic entry in the Volvo Ocean Race. “I am probably the weakest link!” says Gram-Hansen. “Basically we have the attitude and we have done practice for this event, I feel if we sail well, have a bit of luck we could win, but definitely the other Danish guys are doing well.”

Weather permitting, the format for the Danish Open is a round robin over Thursday and into Saturday, followed by semi-finals and culminating in the finals on Sunday.

“Last year Aarhus hosted the ISAF Youth Worlds, which was a huge success for the sailors and for the organizers, Sailing Aarhus,” concludes Morten Lorenzen. “This event paved the way for more major sailing events in Aarhus, supported by the City. Royal Danish Yacht Club and Sailing Aarhus are working together to create a first class event on the World Match Racing Tour.

“As organizers we are looking forward to show the world a new match racing arena in Aarhus – and to show the citizens of Aarhus some great racing, just in front of the marina in Marselisborg.”

Line up:
- Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/ BlackMatch
- Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team
- Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team
- Ian Williams (GBR) Team Pindar
- Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
- Damien Iehl (FRA) French match Racing Team
- Sebastien Col (FRA) French Match Racing Team/ K Challenge
- Peter Wibroe (DEN) Wibroe Sailing Team
- Jes Gram Hansen (DEN) Trifork Racing Team
- Jonas Warrer (DEN)
- Mattias Rahm (SWE) Stena Bulk Sailing Team
- Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing

Video: Highlights from the last day of the St Moritz Match Race

Video highlights from the last day of the St Moritz Match Race. St Moritz, 6 September 2009. Video copyright World Match Racing Tour

Adam Minoprio is crowned "King of the Mountain" 2009

[Source: World Match Racing Tour] The last day of St. Moritz Match Race proved to be a tricky one for both the organisers and the competitors. The Northerly breeze was blowing very inconsistently, forcing the Race Committee to cancel many start procedures during the final series between Adam Minoprio (NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch) and Torvar Mirsky (AUS, Mirsky Racing Team).

The final race eventually took place in good conditions allowing the Kiwi sailor - number 1 in the ISAF world ranking and now once again leader of the Tour - to beat his Australian opponent and to grab the title of King of the Mountain 2009. The two previous races took place in a very light and shifty breeze.

Kings of the Mountain but also kings of the match racing world. From left, Adam Minoprio, Nick Blackman, Tom Powrie and David Swete, current leaders of the ISAF rankings and the World Match Racing Tour. St Moritz, 6 September 2009. Photo copyright Loris von Siebenthal

The “counter-performer” of the day is Philippe Presti, who lost the “Petit” final to Ian Williams (GBR, Team Pindar). The French skipper was unsurprisingly quite disappointed by the outcome of the regatta. He was stalled at the start of the last race leaving Williams to sail away and never managed to get back into the race. Presti nevertheless left St. Moritz with a smile he seemed to have come to terms wth the disappointment of this last race.

Mathieu Richard (FRA, French Match Racing Team), King of the Mountain in 2008 wasn’t very happy either with his performance as he was eliminated before the quarter-finals.

Adam Minoprio, the winner of the title and new King of the Mountain joins a prestigious list of winners that includes Mark Mendelblatt (2003/2004), Ed Baird (2005), Paolo Cian (2006), Ian Williams (2007) and Mathieu Richard (2008). Minoprio becomes the sixth different winner in six years to claim the trophy.

Minoprio also takes back the lead of the Tour leapfrogging Mathieu Richard to a 12 point lead over Torvar Mirsky who moves up to second place and dropping frenchman Mathieu Richard to third. The next event on the Tour is the Danish Open starting on the 10th September.

Adam Minoprio and Torvar Mirsky battle it out in the final of St Moritz Match Race 2009. St Moritz, 6 September 2009. Photo copyright Loris von Siebenthal

They said:

Christian Scherrer President of the Organising Committee: "I am really pleased with this event, the weather was great and it was a real pleasure to organise it although I am looking forward to racing again, it’s sometimes less tiring… The seventh edition of St. Moritz Match Race is a real success and it couldn’t have happened without our partners and sponsors, I want to thank them with all my heart."

Adam Minoprio: "It was very difficult to get back into winning mode after losing the second race of the finals that could have brought us the title. The guys did a great job considering how hard and irregular the conditions were. We managed to consolidate our lead during the last run of the final race, we are obviously very happy with this victory."

Ian Williams: "We would have loved to make it to the Final and we are obviously disappointed. However, winning the Petit Final and finishing on the podium is a good thing. We needed a good night’s sleep to digest yesterday’s poor performance. We got back on the water full of motivation this morning which helped us a lot."

Final Results:
Ranking, Name of the skipper, ISAF ranking, Nationality, Name of team

1. Adam Minoprio, NZL, ETNZ/BlackMatch
2. Torvar Mirsky, AUS, Mirsky Racing Team
3. Ian Williams, GBR, Team Pindar
4. Philippe Presti, FRA, French Match Racing Team
5. Francesco Bruni, ITA, Team Joe Fly Match Race
6. Sébastien Col, FRA, French Match Racing Team
7. Peter Gilmour, AUS, YANMAR Racing
8. Mathieu Richard, FRA, French Match Racing Team
9. Johnie Berntsson, SWE, Berntsson Sailing Team
10. Björn Hansen, SWE, Onboard Sailing Team
11. Alvaro Marinho, POR, Seth Sailing Team
12. Éric Monnin, SUI, Swiss Match Race Team

BlackMatch blast into final of St Moritz Match Race

Hi all from BlackMatch,

An extraordinary day for Blackmatch saw us beat the legendary Peter Gilmour 3 nil in the quarterfinals and then defeat current World Champion Ian Williams also 3 nil to qualify for the final of the St Moritz World Tour Event.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for the team after just scraping through to the quarterfinals by the slimmest of margins to now be in our third World Tour final of 2009. Things were not always so straight forward in our races both against Gilmour and Williams, but the team really pulled together to dominate in the shifty conditions and in doing so have secured our place back at the top of the World Tour Standings.

Video highlights from the 4 day of the St Moritz Match Race. St Moritz, 5 August 2009. Video copyright World Match Racing Tour

Perhaps a race that best depicted how our day went was our final match against Gilmour. After forcing a well worked penalty onto the Australian, we also managed to shut him out at the boat end of the line and gain the advantage off the start. Peter clawed his way back however and by the top mark he only trailed by a boat length. On rounding the mark he dialled up on starboard and managed to get inside us, colliding with the back quarter of our boat and the result was an immediate penalty on us. We had to complete our penalty turn as soon as possible and while dropping the spinnaker during our turn we made the mistake of failing to get the head below the gooseneck of the boom which is the rule and our penalty still stood. The result was that we had to do yet another turn and by the time we were settled Gilmour had opened up a big lead, but still had his penalty outstanding. We sailed a very good final upwind leg and started our fight back while it became apparent that Peter was going to attempt to do his penalty turn on the finish line. On the final downwind we sailed in great pressure and as they undertook their penalty around the pin end of the finish we were coming in with speed. Not only did we surge in to take a very narrow victory but they hit the finish mark and were handed another penalty, a very exciting way to end a race right in front of a packed grandstand on the lakes edge.

It is hard to explain a day like today, even faced with prestart penalties in two of our matches against Williams in our semi final, we still managed to extend away, undertake our penalty turns and take comfortable victories in all of our matches. In the other semi final Torvar Mirsky is 2-1 up against Frenchman Philippe Presti and it will be interesting to watch these two teams battle it out tomorrow to see who we will face in the final.

BlackMatch turn it around in St Moritz

Hi all from BlackMatch,

After sitting out 6 matches today we were only involved in 2 races in which we were able to take victories over Sweden’s Johnnie Berntsson and Alvaro Marinho from Portugal. After a terrible opening day it was great to turn things around and notch up a few more wins to keep us very much in contention for a quarterfinal berth.

Our race against Johnnie Berntsson didn’t go entirely to plan and we received a penalty in the pre-start after yet another collision, however Adam did a great job of equalising when we forced a penalty on them on the final approach to the start line. The race was an extremely close affair after both teams were even off the start line and it wasn’t until a wind shift went our way on the final upwind that we were able to gain the lead and defend well for the victory.

Now with a record of 4 wins, 3 losses and a point deducted for yesterday’s incident with Francesco Bruni, we are confident we can kick on from here and get the wins needed to make the quarterfinals. In our four remaining matches against Sebastian Col, Mathieu Richard, Philippe Presti and Eric Monin it looks like we will have to win at least 3 out of 4 to secure our place in the next round.

Nick Blackman trimming up the jib. St Moritz, 3 September 2009. Photo copyright Jenny Warner

Adam Minoprio number one in Open ISAF World Match Race Rankings

[Source: ISAF] Adam Minoprio (NZL) has finally broken the French stranglehold at the top of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings. By displacing Mathieu Richard (FRA) at the top of the Open Rankings, Minoprio is the first non-French skipper to occupy the top spot in either the Open or Women’s Match Race Rankings since June 2008.

Minoprio jumps up two places in this release to hit the world #1 spot for the first time, following in the footsteps of other famous Kiwis to hold the World Rankings top spot such as Dean Barker, Russell Coutts and Chris Dickson.

Since demonstrating his talent by winning the prestigious Warren Jones Youth Regatta in Perth three years ago, Minoprio, now aged 24, has rapidly developed into a major force on the world match racing scene. Last year he won his first ISAF Grade 1 match racing event and ended up fourth in the World Match Racing Tour for the ISAF Match Racing World Championship, just missing out on the bronze medal to Mathieu Richard (FRA).

BlackMatch Racing training with Mirsky Racing Team. Valencia, 14 June 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

In 2009, Minoprio and his Black Match Racing team got their season off to a flying start by winning their first World Match Racing Tour event at the season opener in Marseille. Ever since then the team have been mixing it right at the top of the World Championship Standings, where they currently occupy the silver medal position.

Ironically, it’s Richard, the skipper Minoprio displaced from the world #1 spot this month, who currently sits ahead of the Kiwi in the World Championship leading position. However, whereas the World Championship only includes this season’s World Tour events, the Rankings take into account results from events competed in over the past 24 months and it’s here Minoprio holds the edge over his French rival.

BlackMatch Racing training with Mirsky Racing Team. Valencia, 14 June 2009. Photo copyright Pierre Orphanidis / Valencia Sailing

Whilst France might have lost the top spot, the French Match Racing Team looks well placed to take on Minoprio for world #1 honours for the reminder of the season. Behind world #2 Richard is Sébastien Col (FRA) at #3 with ISAF Nations Cup winner Damien Iehl (FRA) at #5. British double and reigning World Champion Ian Williams is the other top-five skipper at #4.

Further down the Rankings, US Virgin Islands’ skipper Taylor Canfield makes impressive gains up from #100 to a career-best #57 after winning the recent ISAF Grade 3 Chicago Match Race. Another recent winner is Estonia’s Mati Sepp, who is the highest new entry into the world top 100, climbing 35 places to #75 after winning the ISAF Grade 3 Tallinn Open Match Race.

Positive start for BlackMatch in International de France Match Race

Greetings from BlackMatch,

After a 3 week break from the match racing scene, we were back in action today, competing in the International de France Grade 1 event. This event is held in the Brittany region in the town Pornichet and has a very impressive line up, which of course includes the four French teams that are ranked in the ISAF top 10.

We are glad to be back in the J-80 boats which we sailed to victory in Marseille earlier this year, however this feels like a long time ago and it was great to get off to a positive start today with 4 wins from our 6 races.

While our 4 wins today were pretty convincing, our losses came against Sebastian Col and World number 12 Mads Ebler from Denmark, in extremely close fashion. The wind was very shifty today which made it tactically very difficult and although we arguably had the better start against Col, he got the better of us up the first beat and never looked back to take a narrow win. Our closest race was against Ebler who won the start after a wind shift when the start gun went meant we started at the un-favored ‘boat end’ of the line. The Danish sailor did a great job throughout the race and although we felt like we were always gaining on him, he defended very well to take a well deserved victory. We threw everything we had at him on the final run to the finish, ‘tossing’ the boats around in a fierce gybing duel, but they hung on well and won by a boat length.

BlackMatch reach career best in latest ISAF World Ranking

Hi all from BlackMatch,

Despite a slight hiccup in our 2009 campaign last week in Sweden, the latest ISAF rankings have seen BlackMatch Skipper Adam Minoprio reach a career best number 3 in the world. The latest World Ranking is great news for BlackMatch Racing, as it is not only our goal to win the World Match Racing Tour, but also to be the World Number 1 ISAF ranked team, by the end of 2009.

Although we have surrended our top position on the World Match Racing Tour to the world number 1 Mathieu Richard, we are still well in contention lying in 2nd place and will be looking to regain the top spot at the St Moritz event in 6 weeks time.

This is the debut for Adam Minoprio in the RC44 class. Malcesine, 8 July 2009. Photo copyright Nico Martinez

Our next regatta is in 3 weeks and is the grade 1 International De France, held in Brittany. We finished 5th here last year and are definitely vying for a top placing here this year in the J-80 boats.

Match racing - Open - Wednesday 8 July 2009

1 RICHARD Mathieu (FRA)
2 WILLIAMS Ian (GBR)
3 MINOPRIO Adam (NZL)
4 MIRSKY Torvar (AUS)
5 COL Sébastien (FRA)
6 IEHL Damien (FRA)
7 GILMOUR Peter (AUS)
8 PRESTI Philippe (FRA)
9 CIAN Paolo (ITA)
10 BERNTSSON Johnie (SWE)

BlackMatch still has slim chance to make it to Match Cup Sweden quarterfinals

Hello again from BlackMatch,

Day three and the repechage stage of Match Cup Sweden saw mixed form today from BlackMatch. Wins over Ian Williams and local hope Bjorn Hansen may not be enough to keep us in the running, as losses to Mattias Rahm and Sebastian Col have all but sealed our destiny, however there is a slim chance we could still qualify.

After completing four races in the 7 race repecharge series, we now relying on results to go our way if we are to progress through to the quarterfinals. Tomorrow we will take on a winless Francesco Bruni, Dane Peter Wibroe and local Johnnie Berntsson who are both on 3 wins.

Although we only have an outside chance we are still confident and will be giving it our best effort tomorrow to finish on a high note.